1. Rankings

First and foremost, you need your website to rank well on search engines so visitors can find it. This means that your website appears near the top of the search results when someone searches for certain keywords related to your business.

Let’s say you own a private insurance company specializing in workers’ compensation insurance. You would want your business to pop up on a Google (or another search engine) search when people type words like “workers’ compensation for small business” and “insurance for small business.” To do this, you need to include these words on your web pages.

Consider offering resources like blogs, definitions, or help articles. You can include popular, ranking keywords to get these resources to rank in searches. This will lead more people to your website.

Think about it: Do you go to page four of a search engine when you’re looking for a business, answer to a question, etc.? Or, do you pick one of the first websites displayed on page one? You probably opt for picking one of the first websites displayed.

The faster visitors click off your website, the lower your site will rank in searches. You need to make sure your website entices them to stay.

2. Design

People are visual creatures. One study found that when asked to give feedback about a website, 94% of participants talked about design and only 6% content. To make your website stand out, you need to focus on how it looks.

Don’t get me wrong—content is extremely important. But with a poor design, website visitors might not want to stick around to see what you have to say.

Your website should be visually appealing. Aside from that, it should be unique to your business’s brand. If you have brand colors, use them. For example, your business’s colors could be blue and green. Make sure to incorporate these colors into your web pages to make your website stand out. And, use easy-to-read fonts.

Don’t copy a competitor’s website design. You should have a personalized site that represents your company. Your logo should be prominently displayed on your homepage. Create other images that might draw attention to your products or services. And, add social media icons so visitors can see which channels your business is active on.

You might also consider including photos of your products or services, along with descriptions of what you offer. One study reported that 65% of people could retain information when images were paired with content, versus only 10% of people who just read content. Your content should be easy to read, too. Don’t include large paragraphs of text. Intermix content and visuals so that visitors aren’t bored with your website.

Make sure to update your visuals to keep current with changes in your business.

3. Navigation

Some websites are complex. Visitors need to devote their time to figuring out how to navigate the website, or they just give up and leave. Make sure your website is simple and easy to navigate.

You should provide ample information so visitors know what you do. Include information about your products or services, store hours, business address, and contact information. Arrange the information on clearly labeled web pages so visitors can navigate around your website.

Your website should be personalized, yet simple. If visitors have to sort through blocks of text and unnecessary visuals to get to the real content and point of a web page, you need to simplify. Navigating your website shouldn’t be a hassle.

Navigating around your website shouldn’t be a slow process, either. If your pages have slow loading times, visitors might hop off and go to another website. Eight seconds is the average period of time before someone gets distracted. But, one survey found that 40% of people would leave a website if loading lasted more than three seconds. Learn how to make your website better by decreasing the time it takes for pages to load.

In October 2016, 51.3% of all world wide web visits came from mobile devices. Although this statistic frequently changes, your website should be mobile friendly to accommodate the 77% of Americans who own a smartphone. With a mobile-friendly interface, people can visit your website through their smartphone from anywhere. If the information is arranged explicitly for a large computer screen, information will be cut off and navigation will be difficult. Without a mobile-friendly website, you risk your website sinking into an abyss of rejection with other sites that are not mobile friendly. Instead, make your website stand out with an easy-to-navigate mobile interface.

4. Domain

If you want your website to stand out, you also need to think about creating a strong domain name. A domain name is your website address. Not only does it build brand awareness for your business, it also attracts people to click on your website.

There are many things you need to keep in mind when picking a domain name. Consider matching your domain name to your business name. This will make it easier for customers to find you online. If you have a long domain name, people might not think your business is legitimate. A simple, memorable, and unique domain name can make your website stand out from the rest.

Research domain names to make sure another company doesn’t have a copyright on or own the one you want. Then, register your domain name and renew it annually. That way, you won’t need to keep changing your website’s domain name.